Shorian Shop in the spotlight
Lake Shore High School offers many Career Technical Education classes. One example of these programs is the Marketing and Sales Program, led by Janice Radlick, and located in the North Lab (the interim Shorian Shop). However, they won’t be there forever as many new changes are to come.
The Shorian Shop is undergoing renovations as a part of the recently passed bonds. According to recent renderings, when you walk Northeast from the renovated cafeteria and take a right before going into the Student Commons area, you’ll be in the Shorian Shop, and you’ll be greeted by the student employees at the register counter on the left side of the space. In addition, behind the counter, there will also be a showcase of the multiple items for sale in the Shorian Shop. For example, if there is new merchandise for sale, then that display will be able to showcase the new merchandise and make it look appealing to the customers. Additionally, there will be several merchandise pieces out on the table in the middle of the area for students to check out. The Shorian Shop will be better than ever.
Radlick said, “It’s definitely going to have a positive effect. It’s going to be bigger. They knocked out the wall in the old credit union and the Shorian Shop, so now we have that whole entire space. There is going to be an entrance directly from the cafeteria, so that students can directly come into the Shorian Shop so we hope that it will increase business. Overall, I just think that it will be better designed and it’s gonna be a great thing.”
This renovation will help make the Shorian Shop much more appealing to the students of the future.
Before the renovation, there were some best-sellers in the Shorian Shop, but one sticks out. Radlick said, “I would say that most students buy soft drinks. Clothing wise, we sell the most t-shirts.” This data can help moving forward, as the students can use that data from the sales for the other available products in the Shorian Shop.
Radlick
is among many
CTE course directors, and she is always trying to persuade students to join the class. She said, “It helps if you have an interest in business and you have to be a reliable and dependable sort of person. It’s not like other classes. You can’t just sit back and let the teacher do the work. You are actually doing the work. It’s project based, you have projects to do when you are not working in the store, and you have to have a high level of time management. You have to report when you’re scheduled to work and still get your assignments in.”
This is a perfect course for those with a good work ethic. This is because if you’re working in a real-life store environment, you’ll need to have a good work ethic to complete the required tasks.
Grace Vandenstorm, junior, said, “My sister (grad 2022) took the class and she said it was fun so I did it.” Having a sibling who has taken the class before can be a big confidence boost as Vandenstorm’s sister could deliver some words of wisdom before even stepping foot into the classroom. Being able to get some advice from alumni of the course is a confidence booster, as it can allow you to use that advice to potentially get over the jitters of stepping into the class for the first time.
Radlick then began to discuss the time when the clothing sales were high. She said, “We had a lot of sales during parent teacher conferences.” This is a very important piece of information because, during parent-teacher conferences, the parents might want to buy a certain item to remember the night. So, they can purchase some merchandise, and use that as a keepsake.
Vandenstorm then goes into detail about using the skills learned in Marketing and Sales class in life, saying, “I want to go into something with marketing.” This class can be influential for aspiring store owners, as it will allow them to gain experience that could benefit them.
Vandenstorm continued, “Our popcorn and slushies are pretty big, and then our sweatshirts sell when parents come in for conferences. They will buy a bunch of sweatshirts.” Having knowledge of the best-selling products in the Shorian shop can help the current students tweak their lineup so that they can be more appealing to the customers.
Vandenstom then shared her favorite highlight of the Shorian Shop class, saying. “We are working on the classroom right now, and I like that it’s a hybrid class.”
Every environment will have people who want to cause issues. But, Vandenstorm knows how to deal with these people, saying “I just smile at them and say have a good day.” Being able to confidently and calmly deal with stubborn customers is a vital skill to have, especially in a store environment, because in every job, being able to deal with customers or even employees who are giving someone a hard time could allow the store to operate much smoothly, so that the manager(s) of the store could do their job, and not deal with the repercussions that could result from the situation getting even worse.
In summary, the Marketing and Sales Program is one of Lake Shore’s best.